My Own Unprivate Little ItalyThe smell of warm chicken blood in the stairwell of my friend Zoe’s apartment building on Mulberry Street is one thing I will never forget from the summer of 1980. Zoe and I held our breath against the thick air as we came and went. Was the family downstairs really slaughtering chickens in their apartment?

Who Made That Referee Shirt?“In the early days of football, the officials wore white dress shirts, often with a bow tie and usually a beret-type hat,” says Paul Lukas, editor of the Uni Watch blog, which chronicles sartorial trends in sports. “The notion was that a formally dressed gentleman has an air of authority, and that’s what you want in an official.”

Dancing With the CarsA busy Manhattan intersection during the morning rush might seem an unlikely place to make your dance floor, but that’s where Mentoria Hutchinson mixes it up with thousands of impatient drivers every day.